94 Athletics Intercollegiate Athletic Season Highlights 2002-2003 BASEBALL her first All-BIG EAST selection by finishing 10th at the conference Head Coach: Pete Hughes championships. She also finished 10th at the NCAA Regionals, while Record: 33-21 (13-11 BIG EAST) registering a time of 17:11 at the New England Championships, good for Recap: After a slow start, the Eagles rebounded to win 18 of their last 28 second place. games. Included in that were seven- and five-game win streaks. At various points of the year, Boston College received votes in the Sports FENCING Weekly/ESPN Top 25, Baseball America and NCBWA polls. The Eagles were Head Coach: Syd Fadner led by a pair of aces: reigning BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Chris Men’s Record: 15-7 overall (7-2 ECAC) Lambert, who, as of April 23, led the conference strikeouts (61) and Kevin Men’s Recap: The team finished the season very strong. The New Shepard, who sported the league’s second-lowest ERA (2.18). Drew Locke England Championship featured the men’s foil squad winning the Vitalli starred at the plate as he led the team in batting average (.349), runs Cup, an award for the best individual squad overall record. The men’s batted in (24) and runs scored (25). Ryan Morgan excelled both as a hitter epee squad finished first and the sabre unit finished third in the NE and the team’s closer, posting the team’s second-highest average (.306) as Championships. The men’s team finished ninth in the IFA well as ranking in a tie for second place in the BIG EAST in saves (eight). Championships. BASKETBALL Women’s Record: 18-7 overall (9-2 ECAC) Men’s Head Coach: Al Skinner Women’s Recap: The team competed consistently well all season. Their Men’s Record: 19-12 overall (10-6 BIG EAST East) Postseason: National third-place regular-season finish in conference was on par with their Invitation Tournament third-place finish in the New England Championships. The women’s epee Men’s Recap: The team finished with a 19-12 mark, including a 10-6 squad led the Eagles all season with a team best 19-6 record, and a third- record in BIG EAST contests. BC shared the BIG EAST East Division place finish in the New England Championships. The team placed eighth regular-season title with Connecticut. The Eagles earned a berth in the in the IFA Championships to finish off the season. National Invitation Tournament, their third consecutive season in post- season action. Troy Bell captured BIG EAST Player of the Year honors as FIELD HOCKEY well as several All-America accolades. Craig Smith gained BIG EAST Head Coach: Sherren Granese second team honors and All-Rookie Team honors. Smith set a BC record Record: 15-6 overall (3-2 BIG EAST) for freshman scoring with 617 points. Postseason: BIG EAST Tournament Recap: The Eagles collected the most wins since 1998, including two wins Women’s Head Coach: Cathy Inglese over ranked foes. They finished the season at 15-6 overall and 3-2 in the Women’s Record: 22-9 overall (12-4 BIG EAST) conference. BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Kim French led the Postseason: NCAA Tournament team in scoring with 12 goals and two assists for 26 points. Four other Women’s Recap: The team advanced to the school’s first-ever women’s Eagles finished with double-digit points (Christy Zider, Lauren Schultz, basketball Sweet Sixteen with tournament wins over Old Dominion and Virginia Drozd, Bronwen Kelly). No. 16 Vanderbilt. As a No. 5 seed in the East Region, the team’s season came to an end at the hands of top-ranked Connecticut. Two Eagles -- FOOTBALL Brianne Stepherson and Amber Jacobs -- joined the 1,000-point club while Head Coach: Tom O’Brien Stepherson finished her career in the top 10 of several BC categories, Record: 9-4 overall (3-4 BIG EAST) including points (10th with 1,115), steals (fifth with 171), and assists Postseason: Motor City Bowl (second with 534). Becky Gottstein finished her career as the fifth-leading Recap: The Eagles finished with a 9-4 record and appeared in a bowl scorer (1,490) and second-leading rebounder (884) at Boston College. game for an unprecedented fourth consecutive season, topping off one of the most successful four-year periods in Eagle football history. The 51-25 CROSS COUNTRY win over Toledo in the Motor City Bowl sent the 2002 senior class out Head Coach: Randy Thomas with 32 victories in four years (32-17) tied with the 1981-84 group for the Men’s Conference Finish: Fifth most wins in a four-year period in 60 years of Boston College football. The Men’s Recap: Led by senior captain Shawn Wallace, the team had its Eagles won eight or more games for the third time in four years; before most impressive season since the 1999 campaign, earning a fifth-place 1999, the Eagles had won eight or more games only twice in the previous finish at the BIG EAST Championships. Wallace earned All-BIG EAST 12 seasons. One of the top highlights of the season occurred on November accolades after his 12th-place finish at the conference championships with 2, when the Eagles marched into Notre Dame Stadium and defeated the a time of 24:12. He also had two first-place finishes at the CCSU previously undefeated, fourth-ranked and green-clad Fighting Irish, 14-7, Invitational and the UNH tri-meet. Wallace was pushed by several to end ND’s dreams of a national championship. Brian St. Pierre finished underclassmen, including sophomore Drew Bouchard who had a 25th- his career in third place on the all-time BC passing list. Junior Derrick place finish at the BIG EAST Championships with a time of 25:03. Knight rushed for 1,432 yards to become the fourth BC tailback in a row to top the 1,000-yard mark. Women’s Conference Finish: Fifth Women’s Recap: The team had a successful campaign, led by strong GOLF individual performances from Maria Cicero and Julie Spolidoro. Cicero Men’s Head Coach: Trevor Drum qualified for the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish at the Men’s Recap: The team had an impressive fall season, highlighted by a NCAA Northeast Regionals. She was an All-BIG EAST honoree with a third-place finish at the U.S. Military Invitational. The Eagles were led by seventh-place finish at the conference championships, crossing the line in sophomore Tim Connors in the fall season. Connors was BC’s top 20:42. Julie Spolidoro also capped an impressive college career, earning performer in the last three events of the fall. In the spring season, junior Athletics 95 tri-captain Sean McReynolds led the Eagles in three of their four LACROSSE tournaments. Head Coach: Shari Krasnoo Record: 9-6 overall (2-4 BIG EAST) Women’s Head Coach: Frank Kolarik Recap: The women’s lacrosse team finished with a record of 9-6. Two of Women’s Recap: The team opened the spring season with the goal of the team’s losses this season come by just one goal, each occurring early in qualifying for the inaugural BIG EAST Championship. Led by sophomore the season. Jacklyn Yovankin was named the BIG EAST Player of the Kori Goulet, the Eagles were one of four teams selected for the event, held Week and selected to the womenslacrosse.com Player of the Week honor roll at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course. There, BC finished third, eight for the week ending April 7. Courtney Legath, who currently leads the strokes ahead of fourth-place finisher Georgetown. Other highlights of the team with 42 points, has 18 goals and a team-high 24 assists. She was season included a second-place finish at the Brown Invitational. In the named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending fall, BC had three second-place finishes; at the Rutgers Invitational, the March 5. ECAC Championship and the Dartmouth Invitational. OUTDOOR TRACK ICE HOCKEY Head Coach: Randy Thomas Men’s Head Coach: Jerry York Men’s Recap: The men’s track and field team has competed at five meets Men’s Record: 24-11-4 (16-6-2 Hockey East) this spring: Raleigh Relays, Husky Spring Open, Southern Connecticut Postseason: NCAA Tournament State University Invitational, UNH Invitational and Solomon Husky Men’s Recap: Boston College earned a share of the Hockey East regular- Invitational. In the two meets that had team scoring, Boston College came season crown, marking the school’s eighth title – a league-high – in 19 in fourth out of eight teams at the SCSU Invitational and fifth out of eight seasons. Ben Eaves earned All-America first team honors, while J.D. at the UNH Invitational. Among the team’s top performers are Byron Forrest earned All-America second team accolades. The regular season Gartrell, who won the 1,500 at the SCSU Invitational and the 5,000 at the also saw Eaves earn Hockey East Co-Player of the Year honors and the UNH Invitational; Brian Mahoney, who took first in the 3,000-meter 2002-03 scoring title. In addition, sophomore goaltender Matti Kaltiainen steeplechase at both the SCSU and UNH invitationals; Geoff Atkins, who was named the HOCKEY EAST Goaltender of the Year with a league-low took home the top prize in the 400 at the UNH Invitational; and Vernon 2.20 goals-against average.